This is a replica of Nellie Johnstone Number 1, the first commercial oil well in Oklahoma, starting in 1897. It was 1,320 feet deep, and between 1903 and 1947 it produced an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil, which were ultimately transformed into 4 million gallons of petroleum products.Bull Wheel – drilling rope or line was wrapped around this huge spool, which was wound and unwound as tools were lowered and raised in the well bore.Looking up into the derrick.Band Wheel – 2,600 pound wheel of laminated wood transformed the rotating motion of the drive belt into the up-and-down motion necessary to drill the well.Steam Engine – the power source for drilling was provided by this one-cylinder steam engine, which received steam through a pipe from the boiler. It typically operated at 60 to 120 revolutions per minute.Boiler – steam from this boiler operated the derrick. Wood from nearby trees provided the fuel for the boiler’s fire, and the nearby Caney River furnished the necessary water.
